Paper constructed snap fastener



Jan. 18, 1966 c. w. COCHRAN PAPER CONSTRUCTED SNAP FASTENER OriginalFiled April 11, 1961 .lirlrfflr Invenioi flzimini sired? Czaw'e'nce WCochranJde-ceased) n a lllllllllllllll 4llllllllillllllulllllllilllllllti m M/M C M w mm m n W m L m Li m .9 ml9 United States Patent 3,229,342 PAPER CONSTRUCTED SNAP FASTENERClarence W. Cochran, deceased, late of Belmont, Mass, by Lois F.Cochran, administratrix, Belmont, Mass, assignor to United-CarrIncorporated, a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser.No. 102,320, Apr. 11, 1961. This application Apr. 2, 1963, Ser. No.274,892 2 Claims. (Cl. 24208) This invention aims to provideimprovements in separable snap fasteners of the stud and socket type.

An object of the invention is to make a separable snap fastener stud orsocket, or both, from a paper material, and preferably from a relativelytough formable paper in strip form, by passing the strip throughsuitable tools and forming and blanking the part or parts from thestrip.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple snap fastenerdevice from relatively inexpensive paper material, rather than metal orplastic as has been the case heretofore.

A further object of the invention is to form separable stud and socketsnap fasteners from paper material, such as vulcanized fibers, papermaterial with a snap fastener life and action particularly useful forapplication to articles of commerce made of paper or other fragilematerial.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the upper portion of an envelope showingan improved snap fastener stud and socket attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a snap fastener stud;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a simple construction of the socketmember of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a foldable support construction partly brokenaway showing a stud and a modified form of socket;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged section taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged section taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged plan view of the modified form of socket shown inFIGS. 7 and 9; and

FIG. 11 is a section taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 102,320filed April 11, 1961, now abandoned.

In the drawings, which illustrate two embodiments of the invention,there are shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, a novel snap fastener stud andsocket means both formed of a paper material rather than from metal orplastic material.

The particular snap fastener means illustrated includes a one-piece snapfastener stud (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) formed from a relatively tough papermaterial which is pliable enough to have a head 1 and neck 2 drawn, byany suittable tools, from a flat piece of paper stock and leaving a baseflange 3. The thickness of the walls forming the head and neck issubstantially uniform throughout as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8.

3,229,342 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 The socket member may also be formed ofpaper material and that will have a springy construction when completed.In FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, this socket is shown as a fiat disk 4 having a studreceiving aperture 5 surrounded by a wall 6 divided by any suitablenumber of slits 7 depending upon the type of snap action desired.

The snap fastener disclosed in connection with FIGS. 1 through 6 may beparticularly adapted for use with articles made of paper such asenvelopes, paper clothing, etc., but may be used with other materialthat would not be strong enough for the use of metal snap fasteners. Ithas been found that snap fastener studs and sockets made of a papersometimes called vulcanized fiber in the paper trade can be rnade withsuitable tolerances and that the snap action is more suitable for flimsyor easily torn material because the snap action can be made lighter andmore uniform than can be consistently secured by making snap fastenersfrom metal.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the snap fastener stud and socket, described above, areadhesively secured to a paper envelope 8. The stud has its flange 3adhesively secured to the inside surface of the envelope and the head 1and neck 2 pass through an aperture 9 and are exposed on the outer faceof the envelope 8 to be engaged by the socket disk 4.

The socket disk 4 is adhesively secured to the outer surface of theenvelope flap 10 adjacent to an aperture 11 so that when separationforce is exerted to remove the socket from the stud there will not beany tendency to pull the socket loose from the flap.

In some cases it may be desired to conceal the fastener relative to thearticle of commerce when viewed from the outside thereof. Therefore,there is shown in FIGS. 7 through 11 a modified structure wherein thesocket has an integral cover portion 12 hinged to the disk portion 13.The reason for the cover will be apparent from a study of FIG. 9 whereinthe socket is shown concealed between two layers 14 and 15 of thematerial of the article of manufacture. This cover portion 12 is domeshaped to receive the head of a stud and thus prevents the stud headfrom breaking through the layer 14, which would cause an unsightlyappearance. Furthermore, the cover portion 12 supports the pressure ofthe operators finger or thumb and also allows the socket to flex towardthe cover portion 12 around the aperture 16 when the stud head 1 ispassed through the aperture 16 and is forced into the aperture 17 in themodified socket shown in FIG. 9. In this construction shown in FIGS. 7through 11, the stud member is the same construction as the stud membershown and described above. Also, in this construction, the flange 3 ofthe stud is interposed between the layers 17 and 18 as shown in FIG. 8.

While there have been illustrated and described two embodiments of theinvention, it should be understood that the invention is best defined bythe following claims.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in this devicewithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matters contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

There are claimed:

1. A snap fastener device adapted to be engaged and disengaged by snapaction comprising, in combination, a stud member having a head and aneck, and a socket member, said socket member comprising a disk portionhaving an edge and a cover portion integral with said edge and bent backalong the line of jointure and being in spaced relation to said diskportion for its *full length, said disk portion being provided with anaperture therethrough and being divided by a series of slotsintersecting said aperture, and said cover portion having a dome shapedportion formed therein, open at one end the axis of said dome shapedportion and said aperture being coincident and said open end of saidcover portion facing toward said aperture, both said studs and saidsocket member being formed of paper.

2. The combination of a snap fastener formed of a paper material and apair of supports formed'of a paper 15 tached by said flange to one ofsaid supports and a unitary socket attached to the other one of saidsupports, said socket comprising a base portion and a slotted Walldefining an aperture to receive said bulbous head and neck 5 of saidstud.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,230,412 6/1919Kinch 40-23 10 2,547,871 4/1951 Kirk 229 43 2,772,043 11/1956 Foord 22943 FOREIGN PATENTS 213,080 9/1909 Germany.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Ex miner.

DONLEY I. STOCKING, Examiner.

2. THE COMBINATION OF A SNAP FASTENER FORMED OF A PAPER MATERIAL AND APAIR OF SUPPORTS FORMED OF A PAPER MATERIAL, ONE OF SAID SUPPORTSOVERLAPPING THE OTHER, SAID SNAP FASTENER COMPRISING A STUD HAVING AHOLLOW, DRAWN, BULBOUS HEAD AND NECK EXTENDING FROM A FLANGE AND ATTACHED BY SAID FLANGE TO ONE OF SAID SUPPORTS AND A UNITARY SOCKETATTACHED TO THE OTHER ONE OF SAID SUPPORTS, SAID SOCKET COMPRISING ABASE PORTION AND A SLOTTED WALL DEFINING AN APERTURE TO RECEIVE SAIDBULBOUS HEAD AND NECK OF SAID STUD.